"Unfortunately for you, old bag...we HATE logic!" Natsumi grinned, her magic blades appearing on both hands. Everyone took their fight poses, and even Spotty picked up his gun and loaded it.

"I changed my mind...I'll save my son and let him be the only one to judge me!" he barked, starting to shoot crazily.

Elie closed her eyes...Bright sparks engulfed her raised arm, and then concentrated in the palm of her hand. "I accept your bet, mister." she said softly, before her eyes opened and showed a golden light.

"BLOCK HER!!!!" Curse screamed, shooting at the air and eventually throwing Treble away, paying no more attention to him.

SeraphMan threw a quick look at Dario, who exchanged it with a grin. They both nodded.

"Time to set out our plan, partner!"

Black clouds invaded the ceiling, Elie's spell reaching its peak and soon falling upon her enemies, with the roar of several thunders!

"Wind, crimson flame. Grant the power of thunder to my hand...DIGGER VOLT!!!"

Numerous roars echoed through the large room as a series of electric rays stroke down the major part of Curse's subordinates. As they were stunned by the terrible spell, the roars gradually ended...

"FUUUUCK!!!" Curse showed to be faithful for his own name, as several cursing words were spat from his mouth. "GET THEM, DAMN IT!! GET THEEEEEM!!!" he screamed insanely, further scaring his own men who survived Elie's spell. Not having any other choice, they resumed charging at the Sadistic Pirates; although the majority of them was knocked off, they were still in superior number.

Treble had fallen on his knees after the old man let go of him; he wasn't moving, his void eyes looking at a spot in the floor. His PET laid next to him, and Axl could be seen restrained by digital wires, as Medallion, Curse's monkey-like Navi, was impatiently tapping his foot; his sword was leant over his shoulder, as he vaguely scratched himself from an annoying itch.

"That fuckin' old bag." he growled. "And I hoped I could blow this damn place up anytime sooner, but no, he had to go nuts just now...without his orders, I can't do shit."

"Even though he ordered you, there's no way I'll let you do it!" Axl glared up at his captor, shaking in his bindings. "Even at the cost to tear my own body apart, I'll stop you!"

Medallion let out a hiss, and kicked him in the face. "You've got guts for being a low level Navi, kid. But I don't think you realized your position yet."

"Bastard..." Axl coughed, wincing in pain.

"Mwahahahah!" Medallion laughed out loud, whirling his sword. "Now that I think about it, there's no more need to keep you alive!"

"...!!" Axl widened his eyes. He began sweating cold when he felt the cold blade touch his neck.

"Yap, a slash right here and I'll finally get rid of you." The monkey Navi made a wide grin. "Look at the bright side, you'll get a quick and painless death. It will end soon!"

He pulled up his sword...in a moment, he was about swing it down with force, beheading Axl. The poor Navi shut his eyes tight, waiting for his unavoidable fate...

CLASH!

...that never happened!

"What the fuck?!" Medallion got his sword knocked off his hands by a mysterious force. Axl raised his head, and noticed a feather stuck in the floor near him.

A blue light appeared in front of the two, data gathering from it and forming the humanoid body of a Navi with three large wings behind its back.

"SeraphMan!!" Axl cried, full of hope again.

"You bastard!!" Medallion growled, he had picked his word back up. "How did you get in here?!"

"Looks like you and your operator are still behind in the time." the angelic Navi grinned. "Never heard of Wireless Connection?"

"...DAMN YOUUUU!!!" Medallion raged, wanting to hear no more words as he charged at the hero with full force...

"Fireball." Elie fired her most common spell, which was enough to make quite a few bandits run away with their clothes burning. Her gaze was calm, and it was clear that only a minimal percentage of her powers was enough to wipe off those little fishes.

"Aqua Hurricane!" Aqua raised a whirlwind of water which ran over another dozen of enemy pirates.

"TK Bolt!" Dario held one hand forward, and his attackers fell over all of a sudden, as if some invisible stream of electricity stroke them down. He smiled to himself, as his Navi managed to log inside Treble's PET. Hope wasn't that far anymore.

"Hyaaaaaah!" Natsumi let out a war cry, as she swung her magic blades, slashing from any direction; and his opponents fell like flies, because of either injuries or sudden lack of vital energy.

"Treble!" Jane called out, trying to run ahead and reach the pile of stairs, but Curse's men kept blocking her. "Move your asses out of the way, morons!! Freeze Arrows!"

As the icy spell froze some enemies, Spotty foresaw a clean pattern forming thanks to Jane's attack. He unsheathed his sword, slashed across a pirate who jumped in his way, and in a flash he was on his way towards the stairs.

"SPOTTY! AAAARGH!!" Curse was so enraged that now his mouth was foaming. Unsheathing his own sword as well, he charged head on. In a flash, their weapons clashed tremendously, and both of them exchanged blazing looks full of hatred.

Meawhile, Elie managed to leap over the enemy barricade as it got weaker and weaker, and also ran past the fighting duo of old pirates. A moment later, she had caught Treble in her arms and was shaking him lightly; she had noticed his odd behaviour since the beginning as well.

"Hey boy, are you okay? What have they done..." she muttered.

Treble's eyes rolled to look at his captain. His lips were trembling, but he managed to say her name. "...E....El..ie..."

"Treble!!!" Jane rushed over, having managed to break through Curse's subordinates as well together with Aqua. Elie let the boy go, so that his girlfriend would hug him. "Ooooh...I was so worried..."

"...J...Jane..." Treble breathed; it really seemed like he was struggling a lot to speak.

Jane loosened her hold to look at his face...and now she noticed it too. "What...what's with your eyes?!"

"There's no time...we've got to bring him out of here." Elie frowned; she gently went back to hold Treble, one arm around his shoulder and the other below his knees, and picked him up.

"HEY, HOLD ON A SEC!!" Curse finally noticed them, and managed to pull Spotty away with a kick. "Where do you think you're going?!"

"Out of this hell, of course. Back to my ship." Elie said quietly, looking at the guy in her arms.

"HA! Did you forget?" Curse pointed his sword at them. "My Navi is inside the boy's PET, with a bomb! With just my word, the kid will die...and you with him!!"

"Wouldn't be su triumphant if I were you, moron." Jane glared at him, feeling impatience.

"You little insolent...DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME!" Curse spat, just as Spotty recovered and attacked him. The evil man was forced to defend himself. "MEDALLION!! Set the bomb off NOW!!!!"

...No response...

"What the hell?!" He growled, and now was the one kicked away by Spotty.

"See for yourself." Aqua hissed, grabbing Treble's PET; its screen was showing SeraphMan who was holding a badly beaten up Medallion, and Axl who was free and with a sweatdrop on his head.

"He's no fun...took me a minute only." SeraphMan sighed, dropping the monkey Navi on the cyber floor. His data broke apart and showed the 'Log Out' text in their stead.

"The bomb has been defused too. Thank you, guys..." Axl said with a smile.

"NO...YOU BASTARDS..." Curse was foaming from his mouth anew. He recovered and charged at the group.

"Mono Volt." Elie spoke softly, swinging her hand just that much to block Curse's movements with her paralyzing spell.

"AAAAAARGH!!" The villain squirmed and screamed, but it only caused him to waste energies. "You....I'll make you pay..."

"The time for my death is still far." Spotty said solemnly, sheathing his sword. "Like I said, my son is the only one who will judge me. Until then, I'll keep living for my crew."

"Treble.." Jane whimpered; her boyfriend had passed out after trying to speak. "What...have they done..."

"Heh..." Curse gathered the calmness that was remaining in him. He grinned. "The person who did that to him is not here...You beat her Navi just earlier...And she is the only one who has the cure for your precious boy!"

"Where is she?" Elie asked, lapidary.

"I just said she's not here, didn't I?" Curse chucked. "She will come to you very soon...Don't worry about that. Prepare yourself, Elie Inverse, for what you have done shall not be forgiven!!"

A grin crossed the captain's face. "As if I'd want forgiveness from someone like you." She then glared at him. "Fine then. We'll wait."

"But...Elie!!" Jane protested. "We need to find her now! What if Treble..." She paused, biting her lower lip.

"He needs rest now. The Queen of Darkness is the safest place for him right now." Elie said, in a manner that didn't accept objections. "Let's get the hell out of here, now. Natsumi, Dario!" she called out.

"Oooh, we're going?" the gunner pouted, as she slashed down the last man who was standing among Curse's men. Around her and Dario, a pile of unconscious pirates were laying. "It was getting booooring in here."

The group of Sadistic Pirates exited through the hole Elie had previously opened on the upper floor. After picking up Tron and a pretty much beaten Teisel, they left behind the dark vessel, Curse's mad laughs still echoing in their ears...

I might continue this fanfic on the other forums...this one is dying. :/

Chapter 14 - His Mother

The night that followed Treble's rescue wasn't very relieving for everyone. Sara had visited the young son of Spotty immediately after Elie's group safely landed back onto the Queen of Darkness. Despite Curse's terrible menace, the Sadistic Pirate's captain still had enough hope to manage to save Treble without having to wait for the one who bewitched him. But the ship's medic, eventually, crashed that hope: he didn't have any injury, or any other illness affecting his internal organs. He was basically fine like a fish, there was nothing that could attempt to take his life away. And yet...

'How the hell is that even possible...' she thought roughly, curled in her warm blankets. The faint light from a candle on the bedside somehow helped her think through all the events. For some reason, she could not think while wrapped in total darkness. 'Unless she used some sort of spiritic spell. She may be a strong pain in the ass to deal with...'

She closed her eyes, frowning. Tomorrow was going to be a hella painful day for her and the others. They all needed to get a good rest, especially her. It was hard to close her eyes though, as her mind was filled with Curse's threats, and the image of Treble's emotionless gaze plus the worried ones of her crew.

Letting out a deep sigh, she shook her head and hugged her soft pillow, sinking the side of her head in it. It was no use to stress herself with all that poisonous worry; she'll face what fate will throw at her, like she always did. But unlike the other times, she had a bad feeling: it wasn't going to be easy.

With that last resolutive thought, Elie blew the weak flame off the candle and closed her eyes anew. Soon after, she fell in a deep sleep...

---------------

Her body hit the wooden wall violently. Fragments sank into her back, skinning it badly. She couldn't help but yelp in pain, some blood flushing up her throat and spurting from her mouth. Falling on her knees, all she could see was the blurry image of the decorated floor underneath her, staining in her own bleeding wounds.

Voices boomed into her numb ears. She couldn't recognize any of them, and understand their words either. They came out as a series of moans in her mind. Female and male moans, piling up and stinging her already aching head. She felt a drop of blood rolling from a side of her head, going by her cheek and dripping down.

At that point, she tried to shake her head and ignore the noises, just focusing on what hit her so suddenly, and especially what the hell was going on...

...But another explosive spell knocked her over, hitting her front body terribly and sending her into the wooden floor again. She let out another scream; this time, a piece of wood impaled her left shoulder, blood squirting from it like shaken coke. Her legs won't move anymore, and she coughed up more blood as she held her striken shoulder only to feel more pain at the touch of it.

She raised her gaze, narrowing her eyes. Even though she was going to die, she absolutely needed to look at her assassin's face. She called upon her last energies, her sight focused even more...

...And she saw it. A tall, dark, probably female figure standing in front of her. Corpses behind, faces she could recognize for some reason...the groans came from the wounded ones most probably. It was getting clear in her head...but that was nothing.

Above all, she could hear an innocent cry...the cry of a baby, not far from her.

She turned her head, her blurry sight preventing her from seeing well, but she could recognize that cry perfectly; It was her son. Even though she had no idea about most of the events, even though her senses were numb everytime...the cry of that child was crystal clear for her, and it meant one thing. She had to protect it.

The figure turned to the baby, held in someone's arms. She could not see him or her clearly, but that didn't matter right now. She struggled to get up, as the figure pointed its finger at the pair, a dark orb of evil energy forming.

"D...D-Don't...touch...h-him..."

Her voice was husky, like a strangled whisper; the figure seemed not to having heard her.

The cry noise got higher, turning into screams. It was as if the baby was aware that he was going to die, and wanted his mommy to save him. Her heart skipped a beat...

...What the hell was she still doing there?!

"...aaa...aaaah...YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!"

This time, the figure heard her, but it was too late.

Gaining her very last might, she rose up, ignoring the pain, ignoring the cries, ignoring everything that would stand in her way. With a light orb in her hand, she charged forward, screaming, tackling the figure and causing the ground to shake terribly. The person holding the baby screamed something, probably her name, but she could not understand nor care anymore.

She didn't know what happened next. Instant, deep pain, followed by a hot sensation pervading her body, and then her heart felt as if it was being torn apart forcefully.

Last thing she saw, was a pair of reddish brown, tearful baby eyes. And then, only darkness.

-----------------------

Thump.

Elie's forehead ended up against the cold surface of the kitchen's table. A plate of half eaten cake, being the only food she ate that morning. laid in front of her untouched. The sorceress groaned, rolling her head left and right; that dream woke her up all shaken and early in the morning, and it completely wiped off her appetite. The crew was already off doing their usual chores, while the ones staying beside their captain were Dario and Flo.

"So, you really have no idea? About that man or woman." the cook questioned, her back turned as she was washing the dishes.

"No...I told you." the captain groaned. "All I saw was a blurry image of it and the cry of a baby. I was apparently getting my ass handed to me, that bastard was going to kill the baby and I jumped in between. Then I woke up."

"Uhm..." Dario was sitting nearby, his hand on his chin as he pondered. "That baby...it might be your son, Elie. Dreams sometimes are the reflection of our past or future; not the whole of it, but even a small part might become true."

"As if I'll ever have a baby." Elie hissed, glaring up at him. "And I don't remember to ever have given birth to one. I hate kids."

"But you did give birth, in that past dream!" Flo chirped, turning to the pair with a smile.

"D-Don't bring that up, ok?" the captain snapped, reserving a glare for the cook too.

"..." Dario was still in thought, until he frowned slightly and turned to Elie. "Captain, I'm sorry for the question but...was the cry you heard last night related to when you gave birth to a child back there?" He leant down a little. "It must have cried after it was born, right?"

"Wha..." Elie was about to snap, but then froze as she widened her eyes. "...Yes, it was. It was the same cry."

"Do you think both dreams are linked?" SeraphMan's hologram appeared, landing on the table. "It sounds weird, but it actually happened to some people."

"Indeed." Dario nodded. "Elie, did you have other dreams of the same kind? There must be at least one element that links them all undoubtedly."

"..." Elie thought of the right words to say, then spoke softly. "There was one...in which I was running around something that looked like a fountain, with a boy. I was laughing, even though it was all blurry around me." She narrowed her eyes, looking away. "Another one showed me launching spells at some dummies. It seemed like I was training, and also there the eyesight was kinda bad."

"The fact that you could not see things should be one valid element." SeraphMan crossed his arms. His operator nodded in agreement.

"Since when did you start having those dreams?" the brown haired man asked.

"Uhh..." Elie narrowed her eyes some more, trying to remember. "It wasn't long ago...I think, a year. I don't get this weird stuff every night, rather once in a week or two. And I think I forgot most of those..."

"That's alright, at least we understand a little more." Dario smiled. He then boldly placed his hand on her head, patting it softly. "I think we should stop now. You don't feel well and I can see by your pretty face that you don't feel like talking about this anymore." He smiled gently. "We'll get to it whenever you want. I'll be listening always."

"Fuck yeah I will." Elie grinned, and dived into the new food. All Dario and his Navi could do is watch with a big sweatdrop on their heads...

--------------------

"Helloooooo?" Natsumi called loudly, into Treble's ear. Like the fiftieth attempt of the day to snap him out from his hypnotized state, it failed miserably. The orange haired boy was standing on the deck, surrounded by most of the crew plus his ex-companion, all worried about his apparent lack of emotions. He didn't speak, flinch or react at all, as if he was sleeping with his eyes open.

"Man, this is painful." Dylan scowled. "And annoying, too...can't stand to see him like this."

"It's like he is a coma but he actually isn't..." Tron muttered, moving a lock of hair from her foster son's eyes. "I can't stand it either."

"Treble..." Jane was standing the closest to him, her eyes showing sadness and anger. "Damn it, why should we wait for the bitch who did this to him? It's not right at all!"

"Pisses me off." Teisel growled. "Maybe I should beat some sense into him. It worked in the past."

"I doubt it would solve anything..." Saburo said wisely.

"But trying won't hurt." Natsumi was poking Treble's shoulder repeatedly, with no reaction on his part. "Sara will re-adjust him in no time!"

"Yeah, it's worth a try." Tron said firmly.

"Let's punish him some, for worrying us all." Teisel grinned, clanching his fists.

"And you call yourselves parents?!" Lizzie snapped.

"Why didn't I think of it sooner?" Jane cracked her knuckles. "Sounds like a fun anti-stress remedy."

"And YOU call yourself his girlfriend?!?" Lizzie cried.

Dylan rolled up his sleeves. "A well aimed punch is often the best cure, did ya know?"

"EVERYONE, CHAAAAAARGE!" Natsumi yelled happily.

"I don't think that's the case, guys. Please..." Saburo tried to speak up, but he was defeated on the time when everyone but him and Lizzie jumped on the defendless Treble and started beating the heck out of him. He stepped back and facepalmed. "Why do I even bother..."

"Well, since the majority wins...I'm in!" Lizzie jumped in the big cartoon-ish fight cloud, in which arms and legs stuck out randomly for less than a second each. Saburo struggled not to whimper in frustration at the absurd situation.

"The hell is goin' on here?!" Spotty walked in, having heard the loud riot noises. "Are they fighting?"

"They're 'punishing' Treble so that he might snap out of the trance..." Saburo muttered. "Kinda stupid if you want my-"

"What the FUCK are they doing?!" the ragged pirate growled, tossing away the bottle of rum he was drinking. "Doing it without me! PUNISHMENT IS FOR THE REAL FATHER TO DECIDE!!!"

That said, he jumped in the cloud and joined the riot. Saburo threw out a huge sigh and walked off, going to call the only person who could stop the crazy beating fest.

"...AERO BOMB!!!"

...And she arrived.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

A tremendous wave of wind knocked everyone but Treble away, sending them flying in various directions; who crashed to the floor, who hit the parapets and who even fell into the sea (Dylan).

"What in the fucking bloody hell do you think you're doing?" Elie's voice boomed through the whole ship, sending chills to every spine.

"If you want my guess...I think they tried to help him in a wrong way." Dario muttered, sweatdrops on his whole face. He mentally reminded himself to never get on Elie's bad side. Ever.

"We...we were trying..." Snippy groaned in pain, rubbing his head as he stood up.

"Tried anything on him, but he won't even flinch a little!" Natsumi whined, pointing her finger towards a beaten up Treble who still stood on his feet with the same face as ever.

"You MORONS!" The captain howled, making everyone shudder in place. "You should feel ashamed of yourselves for even thinking of something so fucking dumb!"

"S-Sorry..." Jane muttered. "It's just...I can't stand it anymore..."

"..." Elie's features softened a little, as much as her anger. "That doesn't mean you need to beat up your boyfriend out of frustration, you know." She huffed. "In future, please talk to me before doing something rash like this. This crew is not really based on anarchy."

"We understand...sorry..." Dylan muttered, having made his way back up onto the ship. He followed the sentence with a sneeze, his whole self dripping in water.

Everyone nodded in shame and left. Dario and Saburo walked Treble to the medic room, leaving Elie alone with an upset Spotty. He didn't speak at all even when he was knocked off.

"Bah...I swear, you guys..." the captain sighed, hopping onto the parapet and sitting down. "I understand we are all worried about him, but it doesn't mean we have to go nuts about it."

"You're right..." Spotty sighed as well, sitting on the floor and pulling out a new bottle of rum out of nowhere. "Miss Inverse...thank you for everything you've done for Treble up to now...I just hope we can save him...I can't lose him the same way I lost her..."

"Her, who?" Elie questioned, looking at him carefully.

Spotty paused for a moment, then sighed. "...I guess I didn't tell you about the said witch yet..."

"You know her?" Elie blinked in surprise, not insisting on the previous question.

Spotty nodded gravely. "I do...that bitch is the one who ruined my life. Mine and Treble's..." He narrowed his old eyes. "Her name is...Black Heart..."

"What did she do?" the captain asked, intentioned to know more now. Spotty looked down, holding the bottle tightly, and shaking in rage.